Vote 2012

10/17/2012

Binders of women, Bachelorette breakup and an epic chase

Good morning!

Forget about Big Bird! The hot internet search of the day, as well as the top parody and meme, is "binders full of women." The second presidential debate is still the big topic of the day, but the quick phrase uttered by Republican candidate Mitt Romney is the dominating online trend. And yes, it now has its own Twitter account, @Romneys_Binder, with more than 12,000 followers before the debate ended.

On Facebook, it has nearly 20 different Facebook pages, including one with nearly 136,000 likes. The parodies started pouring in after Romney said that while he was governor of Massachusetts, he sought qualified women for his administration. Romney said he went to "a number of women's groups and said, 'Can you help us find folks,' and they brought us whole binders full of women."

Footage from the debate is also some of the most watched and searched for Tuesday night.

The mild earthquake that struck in Maine and was felt throughout the New England states is a top trend on Google. The quake caused no apparent damage or injuries, but it rattled residents throughout the region. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 4.0 magnitude quake hit around 7:12 p.m. and its epicenter, about 3 miles west of Hollis Center, Maine, was about 3 miles deep. That location is about 20 miles west of Portland. The quake was first estimated to be 4.6 magnitude but was later downgraded.

The Detroit Tigers used Justin Verlander's powerful right arm and the continued hitting woes of the New York Yankees to push the Bronx Bombers to the brink of elimination in the ALCS. Benching struggling sluggers Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher in favor of Brett Gardner and Eric Chavez did little to spark the Yankees, who managed only three hits off the Tigers' ace before a rally fell short in the 9th. New York sends C.C. Sabathia (15-6) to the mound in Game 4, while Detroit counters with Max Scherzer (16-7).

Zumba instructor and alleged hooker Alexis Wright continues to be a hot search. The 29-year-old is charged with engaging in prostitution in her dance studio and in an office across the street and secretly videotaping many of her encounters. Police said she kept meticulous records suggesting the sex acts generated $150,000 over 18 months, and the state has released the names of many of her alleged clients. The list included a former mayor and men from more than a dozen towns in Maine, as well as one each from Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

One guy is trying out Taylor Swift lyrics as pick-up lines. Will any of them work?

It would appear that televised dating might not be the right fit for Emily Maynard. The single mom's second turn on ABC's "Bachelor" and "Bachelorette" series has ended in a broken engagement. After weeks of rumors, Maynard and Jef Holm confirmed their split to People.com on Tuesday. Maynard described it as "a very difficult and heartbreaking decision." Maynard competed on the 15th season of "The Bachelor," where she accepted Brad Womack's proposal in the season finale. They, too, broke up a few months later.

You may never have wondered which of the hot smart phones out there handles a blender best, but now you have an answer.

10/16/2012

Presidential Mashups, Hulk Hogan's sex tape and a single Scarlett

Good morning!

It was just another Manning Monday for the Denver Broncos. After
a nightmare first half that saw the San Diego Chargers jump to a 24-0 lead,
Payton Manning engineered his greatest comeback as a Bronco. He completed 13 of
14 for 167 yards and three touchdowns in the second half as the Broncos wiped
out the deficit and then some to win 35-24. Manning's counterpart, Phillip
Rivers, had a meltdown, throwing four interceptions - 3 in the fourth quarter
and 2 returned for touchdowns - and fumbled the ball away twice in the loss. Both
teams are now 3-3 and sit atop the AFC West.

One other trending sports story is the Giants evening the
NLCS against the Cardinals at a game apiece. The Giants, powered by a four-run
fourth inning, beat the Cardinals 7-1 in game 2. The series heads to St. Louis
for game 3 tomorrow. The Yankees try to get one in the win column tonight, when
they play at Detroit in game 3 of the ALCS.

Trending already is
round 2 of the Presidential debates between President Obama and Mitt Romney at
Hofstra University. Romney's first debate performance dramatically shifted
the momentum in the race, moving Romney from fading in the polls to charging
ahead toward the finish line. For Romney, tonight's debate means be the same
guy as the first one. For Obama, he faces a hurdle of trying to overcome the
perception of being an empty chair in the last debate. Live coverage begins on
7online at 8:00 p.m. The debate begins at 9:00 on Channel 7, 7online and the
Eyewitness News iPad app.

And if you're not sure who will win the battle of words, get a
head start by check out the epic rap battle. Mitt Romney and Barack Obama square
off in one of the day's most viewed videos. More than 1.5 million views is
pretty viral.

And if that's not enough presidential mishmash for you, check out
the candidates dub-singing Katy Perry's "Hot and Cold."

Also buzzing this morning
is the death of three-time BMX world champion Kyle Bennett. He was killed in a
car crash early Sunday morning near Houston, Texas. Bennett, who was 33, was
part of the first-ever U.S. BMX Olympic team in 2008, but did not reach the
medal round of the Beijing games.

Hulk Hogan has filed a pair of lawsuits of the sex tape that
showed up online. Hogan, 59, said he had consensual sex with Heather Clem about
six years ago in the home she shared with her husband, Todd, but did not know
he was being recorded. The video showed up on Gawker, a gossip website. Hogan
is seeking $100-million in the case, suing Gawker and the Clems. He also wants
rights to the video.

If you can sit through it, many people are watching a YouTube
video on the history of quantum mechanics. Turns out it all started with a
light bulb.

Scarlett Johansson is back on the market. People magazine reports
that Johansson and advertising executive Nate Taylor went their separate ways
last week. The couple dated for about a year.

Meanwhile, Katie Holmes is apparently telling pals that she
is done dating actors, according to RadarOnline.com. However, Holmes, who
divorced Tom Cruise, says she is not in a hurry to jump back into a serious
relationship just yet. She isn't even dating, but RadarOnline says Holmes is
being introduced to a lot of artists. Hmmm.

10/08/2012

World's Sexiest Woman, Video Game Tribute and Why Obama Now

Good morning!

Mila Kunis is the sexiest woman alive. That is according to Esquire magazine, making the movie star and former "That 70s Show" actress the top trend on Yahoo. Previous winners have included Rihanna, Minka Kelly and Kate Beckinsale.

The hot news story over the weekend was a wedding brawl in Philly that left one man dead and several others in custody. Police say the man died of a heart attack amid the massive melee, which broke out between people attending two different wedding receptions. The fighting broke out among dozens of people, and a 57-year-old guest suffered a fatal heart attack outside the reception. It wasn't immediately clear if he was involved in the fight.

The Baltimore Orioles are the top search on Google after losing their game 1 ALDS game to the New York Yankees. For eight innings, the teams staged a magnificent duel worthy of two division foes that split 18 games during the regular season and finished two games apart in the standings. Then the Yankees brushed aside the upstart, inexperienced newcomers and crashed a party 15 years in the making.

Russell Martin led off the ninth inning with a tiebreaking home run off Jim Johnson, CC Sabathia turned in a sparkling pitching performance and the Bronx Bombers pulled away to a 7-2 victory.

(AP Image)

The top video of the day comes courtesy of the Ohio State University Marching Band, which paid homage Saturday to classic video games. The tribute included Zelda, Halo, Pokemon, Tetris and others. It has been viewed nearly 1 million times.

The official trailer for Die Hard 5, "A Good Day to Die Hard," continues to be a hot topic after it was released a few days ago. While certainly not lacking in explosive action, many critics worry this team-up of father and son McClane will both flop and succeed in making the Bruce Willis franchise stale.

Crude comic and Celebrity Apprentice contestant Lisa Lampanelli has gone under the knife for weight-loss surgery that has left her 80 pounds lighter. She now says she is a different person, approaching food in a whole different way, eating fewer bites and "ordering food like a human being."

If you ever wanted to learn how to flip food in a pan like a chef, here's a lesson using cheese balls.

A charity group is using third-world residents to satire trivial first-world problems.

Finally, a Simpsons/Family Guy animator outlines key election issues in a short called "Why Obama Now."

08/31/2012

Eastwooding

If nothing else, the Republican Convention has sparked a new
internet craze called Eastwooding. Inspired
by Clint Eastwood's talk with an empty chair at the RNC, people in droves are
posting photos themselves talking to empty chairs. There's even a Facebook page, a Twitter
account (@Eastwooding) and a hashtag (#Eastwooding), many Eastwooding tags on
Tumblr and photos on Instagram.
Eastwooding is the new Tebowing.

04/30/2012

Obama campaign rolls out 7-minute video on YouTube

A video almost certain to become viral over the next few hours is a 7-minute video from President Obama's campaign. You might not be able to tell who Mr. Obama is (probably) running against. Mitt Romney has a brief, silent cameo in the ad.

The video is entitled Forward and focused on the fact that Obama inherited an economy in a deep recession and on the legislative achievement of the administration to get the country going again. And to think, the campaign has not really begun in ernest yet. We're certain to see more viral trends during the campaign. Stay tuned!